Half-Life cover art

Game entry

Half-Life

1998 · FPS, Horror, Action-adventure, Puzzle · PC, Mac, Linux · Valve

Half-Life is ranked no. 8 among the best video games of all time by GameForever voters, with an ELO score of 1,929 and 63% of duels won.

World rank

no. 8

ELO score

1,929

Wins

63%

Duels played

3,334

Join the debate · 22

About Half-Life

Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by aliens following a disastrous scientific experiment. Its gameplay consists of diverse combat, exploration and puzzles.

The community says

I think I was maybe fourteen when I first tried it, could be wrong on that, but I remember not wanting to stop even when my eyes hurt.

ELO progression

Score moved from 1,500 to 1,929 ELO points over the last 123 days.

Head-to-head

Direct record on the most played match-ups.

In the same genre

All FPS games →
  1. 18 Metro Exodus2019 · FPS 1,913
  2. 23 BioShock2007 · FPS 1,902
  3. 32 Half-Life 2: Episode Two2007 · FPS 1,892
  4. 54 GoldenEye 0071997 · FPS 1,873
  5. 65 Doom II: Hell on Earth1994 · FPS 1,863

Keep exploring

Best FPS games All-time best PC games The best 1990s games The best games of 1998

Around this spot

The games Half-Life sits between in the world ranking.

  1. 5 Metal Gear Solid 1,951
  2. 6 Bloodborne 1,935
  3. 7 Mass Effect 2 1,930
  4. 8 Half-Life 1,929
  5. 9 Red Dead Redemption 2 1,928
  6. 10 Stardew Valley 1,925
  7. 11 Persona 5 1,925

More games from Valve

Released in 1998

The community

The debate

22 comments

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  1. Miles_44

    I think I was maybe fourteen when I first tried it, could be wrong on that, but I remember not wanting to stop even when my eyes hurt.

  2. lebsack_brown

    Twenty six feels low for something this often copied by the genre itself.

    Leo_91

    Ese ritmo lento del principio es justo lo que más recuerdo, más que cualquier arma del juego.

  3. Geraldine_2001

    Doom hits harder and never stops to explain itself, that's the difference people forget to mention.

  4. TurboPhoenix2006

    Ah oui, encore un débat pour savoir si un jeu de 1998 mérite sa place, comme si le classement allait soudain se corriger tout seul ce soir.

  5. TurboByte47

    Comparé à ce que Doom propose en franchise pure, celui-ci ralentit tout pour raconter quelque chose, et ça change vraiment l'expérience.

    Maryse_49

    Ce qui fait tenir tout le reste, c'est le silence de Gordon, jamais une cinématique ne coupe l'action.

    Neon_Buisson

    Replying to Maryse_49

    Le silence de Gordon, ça marche encore aujourd'hui pour raconter une histoire sans dialogue, ou c'est surtout nostalgique comme sensation ?

See the whole Half-Life debate →